Friday, December 18, 2009

I am very fortunate to have a great group of ladies that I run around with. Some I've met through my kids, some at the gym. But they are all so smart, funny, creative, motivating, and such a positive force in my life. I'm very fortunate!

Several of these fantastic ladies are part of a group that gets together and plays bunco once a month. Yes, bunco...that "housewife" game. Honestly, it's a chance to get together and complain about our kids/husbands/etc (all with love, of course!), drink a little, and eat good food. There is minimal skill involved (you do have to add your score, but that's what calculators are for, right?) and we always have a whole lot of laughs. Oh and we play for money too.

Almost all of us in this group are avid readers. Last year I made all the ladies fabric bookmarks and passed them out at our December bunco game. They were such a hit that I decided to do it again.

This year I wanted to make something a little different from last year. A few months ago, I stumbled upon the perfect thing: a corner bookmark. There are different versions out there, but I really liked this tutorial by KZJO's Studio.

I love how this cute bookmark just hugs the corner of the page:

I only made a couple of changes. Instead of heavyweight interfacing, I cut the interfacing pattern piece out of lightweight cardboard and slipped that in.

I also tweaked one of the assembly steps a little to accommodate my own laziness.

These bookmarks are just the perfect little gift. They are cute, different than your standard bookmark, and not to mention useful! I think the ladies liked them!

Monday, December 14, 2009

I've kind of been in Christmas project mode lately, mostly working on gifts. As usual, I think I've bitten off more than I can chew. I always have grand plans for all the great things I'm going to make for presents, but there are not enough hours in the day and days in the week to get everything done.

I've also had some custom orders lately. One of my favorite projects that I've completed recently was for my friend Nicole. She works at the school that my kids attend and wanted something cute to carry her things to and from work. Last year I had given Nicole a bookmark made from Alexander Henry's "Bolero" fabric. She loved the bold colors and print of this fabric and wanted it somehow incorporated into her bag.

The print is pretty "loud," so she didn't want it to be the main body of the bag. We decided to pair it with a khaki fabric and use the "Bolero" print for the interior. I used a basic tote bag pattern.....

....and then jazzed up the exterior a bit by making an applique out of one of the flowers in the fabric.

I also added an interior pocket for keys or a cell phone.

Then to complete the set, I made her a matching zippered pouch and a lanyard for her school ID badge.

I loved seeing her at the school today, wearing her lanyard! And she said she loved showing off her new tote to her coworkers. I told her to send them my way!